 1961: 1957
Gretsch 6128 Duo Jet semi-solid mahogany body,
black finish, silver
pickguard: Harrison found this one through a
member of a band
called
the Delacardoes, who got a tip from a taxi driver.
The driver,
Ivan
Hayward, was a former merchant seaman who was planning
on emigrating
and
had decided to sell the Gretsch Duo Jet he'd bought at
Sam Goody's in
New
York City in 1957. "God knows how I managed to get
75 quid
together,"
Harrison recalls in the Anthology
book. "It seemed
like a fortune. I remember having it in my inside
pocket,
thinking
'I hope nobody mugs me.' " (As it turned out, he
only had
£70
at the time and had to leave an IOU
for the balance -- which he never got around to
paying.)
The
Duo Jet sported "humped block" inlays, a Bigsby vibrato
and two
single-coil
DeArmond pickups. Harrison used this sturdy,
stylish beauty
for the early singles, the Please Please Me sessions
and
innumerable
shows in Hamburg, at the Cavern, the Casbah and
throughout
Britain until late spring '63. Then, after getting
a swankier
Gretsch,
Harrison gave this instrument to Hamburg mate Klaus
Voormann, who
changed
one pickup and hung on to it for about 20 years before
giving it back
to
Harrison. Sometime in late '85 or '86 this guitar
was sent to
guitar
tech Alan Rogan, who gave it to luthier Roger
Giffin for the rehab work. "I had to rewire
it," Giffin
recalls,
"because true to form with old Gretsch guitars, the
original wiring was
disintegrating." Rogan "was working with George on
and off at the
time. He also brought in a '50s Strat and George's
original
Rickenbacker
12 string. I refinished the Strat matte black (I've seen
George playing
that in a video) but I'm not sure what I did to the
Rickenbacker."
|
Regarding
the Duo Jet, Melvyn Hiscock recalls that Giffin also
"had a spare
DeArmond
pickup which he fitted and generally gave the guitar
the once-over. I
was
Roger's shop manager and was there when all this
happened. I even
got to play 'Twist and Shout' and a few other Beatle
tunes on
it."
Harrison put the restored Duo Jet to use on Cloud
Nine (1987),
whose
cover
it graces. Pictured above is Gretsch's authentic
G6128-57
reissue. 
1962: 1962
Gibson
J-160E: This is really a tale of two guitars.
Harrison
bought an electrified "jumbo" acoustic on 10 September
1962, the same
day
Lennon bought one, at Rushworth and Dreaper's Music in
Liverpool.
(In photo at left, assistant manager James Rushworth poses
with the
lads.)
Almost immediately they got the identical guitars mixed
up, for the one
Harrison had all those years since is registered to
Lennon.
Lennon's
(actually, George's) was stolen in December 1963 at the
Finsbury
Astoria
Theatre in London during the Christmas show. So,
after little
more
than a year, having been used in the studio (Please
Please Me,
With the Beatles) and on stage, this guitar
disappeared into
the
London fog. But Harrison continued to use "Lennon's"
jumbo
through
the Sgt. Pepper sessions; he later claimed he gave it
away, but it shows up in 
1963: Gretsch
6131 Jet Fire Bird (single cutaway, red w/ black
pickguard, vintage
'58-'62): Harrison probably borrowed this guitar --
essentially another
version of the Duo Jet -- and used it briefly early in
the year.
It's seen in photos from a Cavern Club rehearsal, but
precious little
after
that.